Alfred nobel



OR 456.50? E UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED NOBEL, or PARIS, FRANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 456,508, dated Ju1y 21,1891.

Application filed March 22,1889. SerialNo. 304,348. (No specimens.)Patented in France November 28, l887, No. 185,179: in Belgium January27, 1888, No. 80,419; in England January 31, 1888, No. 1,471, and inItaly February 6, 1888, No. 22,994.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that .I, ALFRED NOBEL, of 53 Avenue Malakoff, Paris, in theRepublic of France, have invented an Improved Celluloidal Explosive andProcess of Making the Same, (for which I have obtained patents in GreatBritain, dated January 31, 1888,- No. 1,471; in France, dated November28, 1887, No. 185,179; in Italy, dated February 6,1888, No. 22,994, andin Belgium, dated January 27, 1888, No. 80,419,) of which the followingis a specification. T

It is well known that the gelatinous compound commonly calledblasting-gelatine, and for which I obtained Letters Patent, dated April4, 1876, No. 175,735, is composed of nitro-glycerine and solublenitro-ce llulose, the proportions adopted in practical use being fromfive to. seven parts, by weight, of the nitrocellulose to fromninety-three to ninetyseven parts of nitro-glycerine, to which is addeda small portion of nitro-benzole or analogous matter when it isdesirable to make said jelly less sensitive to concussion or'percussion.This gelatinous compoundfwhich, from possessing an eminently detonativecharacter, has been extensively used fo'rbiasting rock, provedaltogether too violent in its action for use as a propeller forprojectiles.

Now the object of the present invention is so to modify the explosivecharacter of this compound as to produce from the same materials anessentially new article of manufacture possessing the progressiveexplosiveness needed for propelling projectiles. This I effeet byemploying a process whereby I am enable *to incorporate withnitro-glycerine a quantity of soluble nitrated cellulose ten to twentytimes greater than that which is contained in the aforesaidblasting-gelatine, and thereby to produce a substance which in itsphysical aspect as well as in its intrinsic explosive properties difierswidely from the said blasting-gelatine, inasmuch as through the horny orcelluloidal character which it assumes it is capable of being reduced tosocalled grains akin to those of granulated gunpowder.

I will now proceed to describe-the manufacture and mode of using thecelluloidal explosive which forms the subject of the present invention.

I dissolve in one hundred parts, by weight, 0 it'ro-gl *0 me, say, tento fifteen parts, by weight, of cam her, and I add thereto, sa fifty toone lfififii' 'e'd'parts, by weight, of be izole as a diluent. To thismixture I a say, one hundred parts, by weight, of dried pulped cardedsoluble nitrated.

consistence of a somewhat soft celluloid. It

is then ready to be rolled out into sheets of any required thickness.The sheets thus obtained I convert into so-called grains by cutting themup'into cubes or small pieces of any desired shape, which reductionserves the same purpose as the process of granulation serves forgunpowder.

The addition of benzole, for which may be substituted any other volatilesubstance ha'ving the same property of mixing with nitro glycerince andrendering nitro-cellulose in? soluble therein, serves no other purposethanf to faciliate by such insolubility the equal ab}. sorption anddistribution'of the aforesaid? liquid into the fibers of thenitrocellulose; 7 -As soon as the said benzole has been evaporated theintro-cellulose 'Tbegins' to dissolve,

and when dissolved the compound is sub jected to the. treatment alreadydescribed;

The proportions of the ingredients above given are by no means absolute,but can be varied in a wide measure. variation will be determined by thefacility or resistance which the compound oflers to the operation ofreducing it to grainsjor small pieces. Thus if the aforesaid celluloidalsubstance contains more than two parts of nitroglyceriue to one'part ofhitro-cellulose it be comes almost too soft for a substance which has tobe used in the form of grains or small cubes, and if, on the other hand,it contains as little as one part of nitro-glycerine to two 55 parts ofnitro-cellulose the celluloid obtained is more stifi and hard thanneededand is less easy to manufacture than such celluloid containing nomore than half its weight of 'nitro-cellulose.

When ,the'aforesaid celluloidal substance is made to contain more thanhalf its weight K of dissolved nitrated cotton fiber, its formation inmanner heretofore describedbecomes somewhat troublesome, in so far as itret quires a prolonged malaxation between steamheated rollers or similartreatment. I prefer in such case to substitute for the aforesaidbenz'ole a volatile substance, such as ace- 1 tate of amyl 01' of ethylor acetone, wherein i 0 the nitro-cellulose is soluble, and wherewiththe nitro-glycerine is miscible, and I add ,of

such solvent the quantity needed for complete incorporation of theaforesaid ingredients. The proportion depends on the solv- 25, entsvolatility and the temperature at which the malaxation is effected; butthere is no mistaking, in practice, the proportion needed, xsincesufficientlof thesolvent must. .beladded to obtain a translucentcelluloidal substance.

3 mdreoverhfor practical use the proportions gabove given of equal partsof nitrocellulose .Yfand 'nitro-glycerine plus camphor give an excellentresult, so that the addition herein referred to of an excess ofnitro-cellulose,

. necessitating an extra addition of solvents,

i lisfwill'beresorted to only in exceptional cases.

Of course the nitrated ingredients used-- viz., nitro-glycerine andnitro-cellulose-are be be carefully deprived of adhering acids by -1 4omethods of washing, which need not be speci'ally described, sinc theyare generally used fall dynamite and un-cotton factories.

r with ordinary elluloid, so with the ex- P1 81876. celluloid hereindescribed solid powsubstances may be kneaded in by malaxation betweensteam-heated rollers or otherwise. Thus said explosive celluloid may bemixedwith pulverulent explosives, such afs'ili itrated starch, nitrateddextrine, mealed gunpowder, or pier-ates; but it may also be ixed, andthis is of importance with powred'oxidizers, such as nitrates orchlorates,

f0 thle purpose of 'furnishing'the. oxygen wanting for'completecombustion and with a 55 View to reduce the cost price of the explosiveTceIluIoid aforesaid.

i Thecelluloidalexplosiveheretofore named,

l-,'- composed of 'one hundred parts of nitroglyceriue, onehundredparts' ofnitro-cellu- 6 vl g fand fifteen parts of camphor,contains approximately the oxygen needed to convert,

b y exp losive combustion, all its constituent i lhydrogen into watervapor and. all its carbon into carbonic oxide; but in order to obtaincomplete combustion and thereby convert said carbonic oxide intocarbonic acid it would be necessary to incorporate with each one hundredparts of theaforesaid compound about eighty-two parts ofcnitrate orchlorate of potash, or sixty-nine parts oi pitratc of soda, or onehundred parts of nip-ate of baryta, or one hundred and sixty thi'eeparts of m'tra te of ammonia, or ninety-six parts of perchlorateammonia.

ear'ing mimnt that one part of hydrogen requires for its combustioneight parts of available oxygen and that each six parts of carbonrequire for transformation into carhonic oxide eight parts and forforming carbonic acid sixteen parts of available oxygen, it is easy byaid of chemical formulas to calculate the proportions of oxidizingnitrates or chlorates suitable for each particular case, it beingunderstood that the quantity of oxidizers added should not exceed thatneeded for complete combustion. Of course, also, the

quantity of powdered oxidizers which can be added is limited by thecapability of easypractical incorporation by means of malaxation. Themore n1tro-glycerine and the less nitro-cellulose it contains the moresoft and plastic the aforesaid explosive celluloid becomes, especiallywhen heated, and the greater will be the proportion of powderedsubstances:

IOO

tion of cam phor or analogous inexplosive solvent .reduces the amount ofcarbon and hy drogen contained in the said explosive cellu- 'IIo loid,so that if oxidizing nitrates or chlorates be incorporated or mixed withthe same their quantity should be proportionately reduced.-

The explosive celluloid herein described can also be used for blastingrock, inwhich V I case the so-called grains may be compressed in similarmanner as now practiced for gunpowder, so as to form cylinders orpellets suited for miners use. Such compression may;

either be efiected at a temperature (60 to centigrade) at which thematerial becomes sticky or at the ordinary temperature by slightlymoistening the grains witha solvent, 7

such as acetone or an acetic ether. Of course the grains should not beso much compressed as to leave no air-space, upon which the quickspreading of the flame depends. The aforesaidpowder can be fired Withouta detona tor, thereby (littering completely from the socalled highexplosives now in use.

Whether for blasting or propelling purposes the explosive celluloidherein described has always to be used in, a granulated state or in astate of such division as to present a suliiciently large surface forcombustion. The

size of the grains or particles varies for each caliber of arms andother varied conditions, as is likewise the case with gunpowder; butotherwise the mode of using and firing does not materially differ fromthat explosive except as regards suiting the charge to the ratio ofpower:

Having now particularly described my invention, I claim 1. A process forforming hard celluloidal explosives for propelling orfilling projectilesor for blasting purposes, which consists in uniting nitro-cellulose andnitro-glycerine, in proportions substantially as set forth, by means ofa volatile solvent, as acetone, eamphor, or the like, and subsequentlyremoving the volatile solvent therefrom and mechanically treating thesame, substantially as specified.

' 2o 3. The hard,horny,'o1'celluloidal explosive in granular form forpropelling or filling projectiles or for blasting purposes, containingnitro-ecllulosc and nitro-glycerine, the same being so far solid atordinary temperatures called grains.

3. The eelluloidal explosive above described, in dense, horny granularform, solid at ordinary temperatures,coinposed of nitro- Witnesses:

SIEGFRIED SINGER,

Engineer, it Rue La Bru yw, Pin-is.

MAURICE CASTEL,

Clerk, 17 Rue dA-zmmle, Paris.

as to be susceptible of being cut up intoso- 25 cellulose,nitro-glycgine, and suitable OXld jo

